http://www.sinopop.org/2010/05/11/lang_enbarbara-pollack-on-the-zhang-xiaogang-factor-freedom-of-expression-and-morelang_enlang_zh%e5%b7%b4%e5%b7%b4%e6%8b%89%e7%bb%ad%e8%ae%b2-%e2%80%9c%e5%bc%a0%e6%99%93%e5%88%9a%e7%9a%84/langswitch_lang/zh/ Art and visual culture in Beijing, China Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:12:39 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 http://www.sinopop.org/2010/05/11/lang_enbarbara-pollack-on-the-zhang-xiaogang-factor-freedom-of-expression-and-morelang_enlang_zh%e5%b7%b4%e5%b7%b4%e6%8b%89%e7%bb%ad%e8%ae%b2-%e2%80%9c%e5%bc%a0%e6%99%93%e5%88%9a%e7%9a%84/langswitch_lang/zh/#comment-1658 Neil Cassidy Sun, 15 Aug 2010 20:12:16 +0000 http://www.sinopop.org/2010/05/11/lang_enbarbara-pollack-on-the-zhang-xiaogang-factor-freedom-of-expression-and-morelang_enlang_zh%e5%b7%b4%e5%b7%b4%e6%8b%89%e7%bb%ad%e8%ae%b2-%e2%80%9c%e5%bc%a0%e6%99%93%e5%88%9a%e7%9a%84/langswitch_lang/zh/#comment-1658 Barbara is naive about China. Just visiting here many times and interviewing people in the art world through an interpreter could only get her so far. You have to live here full-time for years to understand the depth of materialism, dishonesty, and opportunism. The lack of an ethical core and lack of independent thinking are the key issues here, plagues on the society, and the art is catering to those traits rather than speaking out against them. Products of an education system that still focuses on rote-learning, rather than humanistic subjects, much less modern art history, the nouveau-riche who are buying the wildly overpriced art could care less about truth, self-expression, and the human condition--such concerns are simply not part of this highly practical cutlure. They have made their money in any way they can, often unethically. They are buying this art to gain face, for the same reasons they buy Mercedes. I would say, despite her best efforts, Ms. Pollack was snowed. I would also recommend she herself take a step back and stop focusing on the material side of the art world, the jet-setter b.s. part of it, and try to remember what got her interested in the actual art in the first place. Barbara is naive about China. Just visiting here many times and interviewing people in the art world through an interpreter could only get her so far. You have to live here full-time for years to understand the depth of materialism, dishonesty, and opportunism. The lack of an ethical core and lack of independent thinking are the key issues here, plagues on the society, and the art is catering to those traits rather than speaking out against them. Products of an education system that still focuses on rote-learning, rather than humanistic subjects, much less modern art history, the nouveau-riche who are buying the wildly overpriced art could care less about truth, self-expression, and the human condition–such concerns are simply not part of this highly practical cutlure. They have made their money in any way they can, often unethically. They are buying this art to gain face, for the same reasons they buy Mercedes. I would say, despite her best efforts, Ms. Pollack was snowed. I would also recommend she herself take a step back and stop focusing on the material side of the art world, the jet-setter b.s. part of it, and try to remember what got her interested in the actual art in the first place.

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